Sunday Setlist / 5.20.12

A look at how we get down at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN...

THE SERVICE

Children of Your Promise [Jonathan Eckberg]

       Opening Challange

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus [Helen Lemmel]

Come Ye Sinners [Joseph Hart]

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (reprise)

You Are So Good To Me [Don Chaffer/Lori Chaffer]

Your Grace is Enough [Matt Maher]

        Message

THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals

Nick Hostetler - drums

Randy Hepler - bass

Larry Ingle - vocals

Kay Smith - vocals

Staci Smith - vocals

Kevin Schmidt - audio

Vance Csaszar - video

NOTES

We decided to try something a little different with our schedule today. One of the things we, as a staff, have been considering over the past several months especially is how to integrate the entire service better. We strive to tie every aspect of the service into the theme of the message. Our goal is that, from the time people walk into the sanctuary until the time they walk out at the end of the service, the people are hearing one message. I think we've come to a point to where all of the elements are where they need to be (or at least headed in the right direction). Our new challenge is to bridge the elements and walk people through the service in a seamless manner.

With that in mind, we started this week with a shortened intro song. Then Pastor Jordan Muck offered a brief "challenge" that presented the concept of the morning and gave people a direction in thought before we launched into the worship set. We worked out transitions between songs in the set with some musical interludes and some scripture meditation and tried to work our schedule to take people on a journey that led them to the mornings message. 

I think it worked well. As with anything, we have some improving to do and there are many ways we can clean up the entire service, but I was pleased with how it turned out. The staff will now sit down and evaluate and tweak and we will continue to try to progress and build the service that makes the most of the time we have to spend with our church family every week.

The message this week was the the close of our 4-week series in 1 John 1 that examined Christian fellowship both with GOD and one another.

THE SONGS

Children of Your Promise - We introduced this song two weeks ago. It was written when we were discussing teaching a longer series in 1 John and it draws heavily from 1 John 3 and Hebrews 10. This is a song that turned out really well and I'm excited about using it a little more with our congregation and getting it recorded later this summer (working on some details, but we are hoping to do a recording project in late July/early August... I'll post some details when we get it all locked down).

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - We opened the main set with this song written by Helen Lemmel in 1922. The message today focused on admitting our own sin and confession. The act of confession begins with a forsaking (in a certain sense) of all that the world tells us is important and resting our eyes solely upon Christ as the things of earth fade from our hearts. When this becomes our focus we are renewed in knowledge according to the image of our Creator, able to put on love and bear together, forgiving as Christ forgave us, and stand united in Him (Colossians 3:10-14).

[album - This is Our God - Hillsong Live]

Come Ye Sinners - We use the updated version of this old hymn. I used this sandwiched between choruses of "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus". The thought behind it is that we must recognize who Christ is in order to truly recognize our own sin. When we do that we can rest in the love and grace of Him who was sacrificed for us. We see that we are sinners who are weak and wounded, sick and sore. But it doesn't end there we can, as the lyrics say, "arise and go to Jesus". In doing so we gain an even greater understanding of love and grace and our affection and attentions (our eyes) should be drawn back to Jesus.
[album - 10,000 Charms - Robbie Seay Band]

You Are So Good to Me - As I've mentioned about this song before we rock this one out. It maintains the melody and all, but we give it a cool bluesy-rock vibe. It's a lot of fun to play. Between "Come Ye Sinners" and this song we had a time of scripture meditation that included Psalm 14:3 (acknowledgment of personal sin) and Romans 5:8-11 (redemption from that sin through Christ). "You Are So Good To Me" then is a song of celebration. It is a song that expresses the goodness and grace that we have received not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ did on our behalf.
[album - Waterdeep Worship - Waterdeep]

Your Grace is Enough - As we rest in the goodness of our father we realize that even in our natural sinful state we serve a god who is faithful and just and who gives his children everything they could need in this life. Even when we wrestle with our own sin we know that as the battle continues, the war is won - because His grace is enough.
[album - Arriving - Chris Tomlin]


To see what other churches are singing visit the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com

Sunday Setlist / 3.4.12

Want to know how we roll at Community Gospel Church?  Here you go...


THE SERVICE

How Great Thou Art [Stuart K. Hine]
       Welcome & Announcements
       Offering // Missions Update:  Jim Boerckel
Unchanging [Chris Tomlin]
I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
Majesty (Here I Am) [Stuart Gerrard/Martin Smith]
        Message
        Dismiss


THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Jess Yoder - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Vance Ceaszar - video


NOTES

While the schedule looks light this week, it was actually a very busy morning.  We used our announcement time as a prep for our "See the Need, Meet the Need" projects.  This is a week of service that our church is doing.  We're asking everyone in the church to help out with a number of projects both at the church and in the community.  It included everything from digging ditches (not even kidding), doing some spring cleaning for a mission for the homeless to moving furniture for one of our "senior saints."  Then during our offering time we had one of our missionaries, Jim Boerckel, share about his work in/around a muslim community market in Michigan.  Finally, we were rolling in our worship time and Pastor Jordan Muck had us sing through Majesty for a while longer (more on this below).  All of this took extra time than normal so we actually ended up cutting everything after the message.

This week we closed out our "Three" series.  It's been an excellent series as Pastor Jordan has walked us through Colossians 3:1-17.  You can download the entire sermon series here.


THE SONGS

How Great Thou Art - We tend to follow the Paul Baloche version of this hymn.  However, we have been without a drummer for the past several weeks, which forced us to "settle" the song a little bit.  It still had a nice push to it, but it missed just a little "umph."  I think it has been good for our team and our congregation to function without a drummer for this period in time, but I also hope to have someone filling that role in the near future.
[album: Our God Saves - Paul Baloche]

Unchanging - Chris Tomlin has done a lot of good stuff, but this may be one of my favorites of his.  It's such a simple profession of faith in a GOD who is faithful, true to his promises, loving and gracious and a call to respond not only in spirit but with physical action (the raising of hands).
[album: Not to Us - Chris Tomlin]

I Am New - This week was the third week in a row that we've done this song as it has been the "theme song" for this series.  People have really seemed to catch on to it and it's always special to hear people singing songs that are a reflection of what they are going through and experiencing as a church family.  As I've mentioned before, we are moving in the direction of doing more and more original music.  While that can be difficult for some people to understand why we don't just do all the songs that are on the radio, there is something special that happens when we sing praises to our GOD from a personal experience rather than someone else's.

Majesty (Here I Am) -  Our congregation eats this song up.  It's one of those songs that when we do it you can look out and see people giving themselves over in worship of a majestic GOD.  Personally, the last line of this chorus punches me in the face every time we sing it: "Your grace has found me just as I am // Empty handed but alive in Your hands."  Absolutely phenomenal.  We were rolling in this song, so I added a couple extra choruses to the end.  THEN, as we were finishing up Pastor Jordan came up and asked to keep singing it, so we kept worshipping our GOD as a family and it was an incredible experience.  We probably sang through the chorus 8 more times.

***As a side note, I think this illustrates why we are attempting to do more music that is original to our community.  We started using this song last year during our 7-week series on the parable of the prodigal son.  Our congregation made a connection from this song to the series (which impacted our church deeply).  As a result there is an authenticity in our worship that pours forth when we sing this particular song together.  As we are working on original music we pray that GOD creates these bonds between music and message.  And, that we will create songs that our congregation can hear and think, "this reminds me of what GOD has called us to from [insert sermon point here]."  Music has to be more than a catchy melody with some good words (even beyond sound theological lyrics).  There must be a lasting purpose to the songs we sing, just as the teaching of the word should not be listened to and then forgotten.  All that we do in a gathering of the saints should point to an eternal end.  End of worship sermon.  :)
[album: World Service - Delirious?]

The only thing that was unfortunate about our service today is that since a number of elements ran longer than normal, it forced us to dump the response song to the sermon.  While this is not a huge deal, I was really looking forward to doing the song.  Alli Hutchens was going to lead us through "From the Inside Out" with Jess Yoder backing her up.  I love doing that song and it would have worked really well in conjunction with the sermon.  But, when the spirit moves, you just have to let go and let some of your desires slide.  I am constantly humbled at how incredible it is to see GOD move in ways that look very different from how I intend.

What a great morning!

To see what brothers and sisters in other churches were singing this week check out the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 2.26.12

Here's how we celebrated the day at Community Gospel Church...


THE SERVICE

Heirs [Jordan Muck/Jonathan Eckberg]
        Welcome & Announcements
All Creatures of Our God and King [Francis of Assisi]
Holy Nation [Muck/Eckberg]
I Am New [Eckberg]
         Message
Let Us Shine [Eckberg]
Mighty to Save [Ben Fielding/Reuben Morgan]


THE TEAM

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Jess Yoder - vocals
Kevin Schmidt - audio
Perri Hepler - visual


NOTES

This week marked week number 3 of our current series, "Three".  In this series Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching through Colossians 3:1-17.  Todays message was the first of two weeks that focus on verses 13-17 - on our renewal and the things that God calls us to cloth ourselves with.  This week we looked at compassion, kindness, humility and meekness.


THE SONGS

Heirs - Pastor Jordan and I wrote this song a couple years ago and released it on the Until We're Kings EP called by the same name.
[album - Heirs - Until We're Kings]

All Creatures of Our God and King - I love this hymn.  We do an arrangement similar to the David Crowder Band version (and also use the "Alleluia" tag from that version).  I like this version because it maintains the same structure as the traditional hymn but also gives it a fresh feel.  Jess let this one on vocals and did a fantastic job.  I love moments when I get to move into a supporting role and just worship alongside our congregation without being "on".  It's a beautiful thing.
[album - Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern - David Crowder Band]

Holy Nation - We used this song as the theme song to our previous series, "1P29C".  The series talks about how we are called to be a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a people of God's own choosing and a holy nation.  The song walks through the verse.  I hope that this song points our people back to that series and back to that reminder of who God has called us to be, not only as individuals but as the Church.  The function within the set was to move from an acknowledgment of who God is and of his sovereignty ("All Creatures...") into an acceptance of who we are made to be in him ("Holy Nation" into "I Am New").

I Am New - We introduced this last week as the theme to the current series, "Three".  In the progression of Colossians 3:1-17 teaches us to set our hearts and our mind on the things above where Christ, who is our life and who is returning, is seated at the right hand of God.  Then it gives us a list of the worldly traits and desires that we must deny.  The rest of the verses tell us how we are to act as the holy nation, whom God has chosen, as those who have been raised with Christ, as those who are made new in him.  This song draws our attention to that process and is, hopefully, a celebration of the fact that Christ has rescued us from who we once were - lost apart from him - to we can be through his love.

Let Us Shine - Another song that came out of the "1P29C" series.  This is a call to let Christ's light shine through us.  To be lighthouses that break through the darkness and present the glory of who God is to those around us.

Mighty to Save - One of our church's favorite songs.  "Shine a light and let the whole world see // We're singing for the glory of the risen King Jesus"  As we were rehearsing on Thursday night Alli summed it up well when she said, "You can't not worship in this song!"  Amen, Alli.  Amen.
[album - Mighty to Save - Hillsong Live]


To see what songs our brothers and sisters in worshipped to in their congregations please visit the Sunday Setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist / 2.19.12

Here's what went down at Community Gospel Church this week...


THE SERVICE:

I Am New [Jonathan Eckberg]
      Welcome/Announcements
      Offering
When I Think About the Lord [James Huey]
Take My Life (Holiness) [Scott Underwood]
Like An Avalanche [Joel Houston/Dylan Thomas]
Take My Life and Let it Be [Francis Havergal/Cesar Malan/H.A. Hendon]
       Message
I Am New [Eckberg]




THE TEAM:

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Randy Hepler - bass
Staci Smith - vocals
Larry Ingle - vocals
Dale Gramm - audio
Jeff Hutchens - visual

THE NOTES:

This was week number two of the "Three" series, a study of Colossians 3:1-17.  Pastor Jordan preached verses 5-11, discussing the things we are called to put aside and the spiritual disciplines that lead us forward in those areas.  We also introduced our new theme song for the series.


THE SONGS:

I Am New - This is a new song that touches on the themes of each of the four weeks of our Colossians study.  It's got a simple chorus that people picked up quickly and easily.  We did this as the opener because we intended to use it as our closing song and wanted to give folks a chance to hear it once before singing along.  So far we've received a good response on it.  I'll look forward to hearing what people think.

When I Think About the Lord - We introduced this song to our congregation a few weeks ago and we are now starting to work it into the rotation of songs.  NOTE: I am yet to find a version of this song the way we do it.  The way Huey does it is very slow and contemplative.  The Shane and Shane version is a medium tempo song.  I picked this song up from Dave Hunt when I was in Nashville and he did a more rocked out version (in my iTunes search I ran across a recording by Caleb Carruth which is similar to the version I learned from Dave).  We actually pick the tempo up even more and make it a song of celebration.
[album - When I Think About the Lord - James Huey]
[album - Pages - Shane & Shane]
[album - Darkness Falls - Caleb Carruth]

Take My Life (Holiness) - This is one of those "old standard" worship choruses.  We take it and rework it a little bit.  It becomes an uptempo, almost bluesy-style tune.  By switching the feel of it up we are able to allow people to connect with the plea of forming, transforming, and conforming of our hearts, minds, and will to that of God.  There is a wonderful theme in this song, but the traditional arrangement seems pretty well played out.  Again, we don't do anything dramatic with it - we maintain the exact melody and chord structure - we just dress it up in a slightly different package to tie into our people.
[album - Take My Life - Vineyard Voices: The Worship Leader Series]

Like An Avalanche - We've been doing this Hillsong United tune for the past year and it's a song that the congregation has really latched on to.  Sometimes you introduce songs that you really think are good and you really think work for where the people are, but they just never work out and people never start singing them.  Fortunately, this song caught on well.  A lot of our people seem to get into this song pretty deeply.
[album - Aftermath - Hillsong United]

Take My Life and Let it Be - we do this song very true to the traditional chorus.  Our intent was to have our piano player lead this one, but she was knocked out with the flu on Sunday morning.  So Larry and Staci stepped up and led it.  They did a phenomenal job.

I Am New - I took an extra minute or so after the message to teach the song to the congregation and to actually walk them through it just a little bit.  I did this so that as we continue to sing it in the coming weeks they will be able to feel the full weight of what we are moving towards and the tie to the messages.

So that was our morning.  To see what others around the country are singing please head over to the Sunday setlists at:  theworshipcommunity.com.

Sunday Setlist // 2.12.12

Take a look at what happened at Community Gospel Church this weekend...




THE SERVICE:

Glory to God Forever [Steve Fee]
      Welcome // Announcements
      Offering
Glory to Your Name [Dave Hunt]
Once Again [Matt Redman]
Our God [Chris Tomlin/Jason Reeves/Matt Redman/Jonas Myrin]
Consuming Fire [Tim Hughes]
      Message
Arms that Hold the Universe [Steve Fee]




THE TEAM:

Jonathan Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Beth Stemble - piano
Cyndi Leamon - vocals
Alli Hutchens - vocals
Mike Stemble - audio
Brent Wiseman - visual


THE NOTES:

This week we kicked off a new series that Pastor Jordan Muck is preaching called, "Three".  This is a four-week study of Colossians 3:1-17.  It should be an exciting study on the heart  of our actions as believers.  Week one looked at the first three verses and discussed the setting of our hearts on things above, the fixing of our minds on the things above, and the security that is found in Christ.


THE SONGS:

Glory to God Forever - This is a great song.  It's very simple and holds a wealth of theological truth to it.  I love opening with this one.  It has really good energy to it and our people have always grabbed a strong hold of it.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]

Glory to Your Name - I have talked about this song many times in the past.  It is by a phenomenal worship leader named Dave Hunt.  He lead at the church I attended when I lived in Nashville, TN.  Dave is simply one of the most genuine and humble worship leaders I have ever encountered.  This is one of his songs that I love!
[album: Shattered - Dave Hunt]

Once Again - This is another older song that I love.  It has a tremendous focus on the cross and and the humility, gratitude, and response that simply must flow from the observation of it.  I do have to note though, that I always change one word of the song.  The bridge goes like this:  "Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross // Thank you for the cross, my friend".  I've never been comfortable with the word friend there.  I understand what Matt Redman is trying to communicate, but in my mind (if nowhere else) it seems to diminish the power of the act of sacrifice that took place there.  So whenever I have done this song I always change the word "friend" to "king".  Some might feel this is unnecessary or "nit-picking", but it's one of those things that I feel a conviction about so I change it.
[album: The Friendship and the Fear - Matt Redman]

Our God - Everybody knows this song.  I probably don't need to talk much about it.  I would have no problem doing a whole service where we sing just the bridge to this one.
[album: And If Our God is For Us - Chris Tomlin]

Consuming Fire - I felt like this was a great song to end the set with this week since the focus on the message was on the centering of ourselves on things above and not on this earth.
[album: When Silence Falls - Tim Hughes]

The Arms that Hold the Universe - It was a Steve Fee kind of morning.  This was our closing song.  Jordan talked to me early in the week about doing this one after the message, so I worked it up.  We didn't really have time to learn it as a team so I played it solo.
[album: Hope Rising - Fee]


For more information on Community Gospel Church please visit us at:
www.cgccommunity.com

or on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/cgccommunity


To see what other brothers and sisters are singing visit the sunday setlist at www.theworshipcommunity.com.